fd-Portugal-msg - 9/19/05 Food of medieval Portugal. References. NOTE: See also the files: fd-Spain-msg, fd-Morocco-msg, Spain-msg, Moors-msg, Guisados1-art, saffron-msg, saffron-art. ************************************************************************ NOTICE - This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday. This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter. The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors. Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s). Thank you, Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous Stefan at florilegium.org ************************************************************************ Date: Tue, 19 Apr 2005 22:02:13 -0500 From: Robert Downie <rdownie at mb.sympatico.ca> Subject: [Sca-cooks] More Translations of Portuguese Food Stuff (long) To: Medieval_Spain at yahoogroups.com, mk-cooks at midrealm.org, SCAFoodandFeasts at yahoogroups.com, sca-cooks <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>, ns-cooks at northshield.org I recently picked up a copy of _ Mesa Com Lus Vaz de Cames _ o romance da cozinha no Portugal das Descobertas (At the Table With Lus Vaz de Cames - the romance of cuisine in Portugal during the Age of Discovery). Since at this point we only know of the one extant medieval Portruguese cookbook (Livro de Cozinha da Infanta D. Maria), I though this book may provide other literary references for Portuguese food in the Renaissance period. I was quickly skimming through some of the chapters, and this section dealing with food evolution through cultural exchange caught my eye. I have tried to translate it as directly as possible (and add explanatory comments where I could), my apologies in advance if the language sounds somewhat stilted as a result. Faerisa/Fernanda Excerpt from the beginning of Chapter XIII "O poema da barriga vazia" (the poem of the empty belly) Comparisons between the novelties found, and those that were already known from the homeland or other destinations already visited, are always present in the descriptions of the travelers, whether Portuguese or foreign. An example of this is illustrated in a letter written from Goa by Thomas Stevens: "I have not yet seen here a tree similar to those I have seen in Europe, with the exception of grapevines, which here are useless, since all wines come from Portugal." Also curious are the references of lvaro Velho, witness to the arrival of Vasco da Gama to India. In his Guide, "jacas" (jack-fruit?) are compared to melons <<except that outside they are crispy, but inside they are sweet>>, and bananas to figs, which <<taste very good>>. To melons he also compares coconuts of Moambique, <<the interior pulp is what is eaten and tastes like "juna aveladada" (the footnote says: there are those who disagree with this interpretation, nevertheless, the taste of juna avelanada, Cyperus esculentus, well know to the Portuguese of the time, and from which was made a whitish beverage, with a hazelnut-like flavour, appears to indicate this direction.) [I looked up Cyperus esculentus. It is modernly listed as yellow nutsedge, a North American problem weed, which doesn't sound right. The footnote also refers to the making of an "orchata" with this plant, but it's definition is: 'a refreshing beverage made with seeds of cucurbita' or 'a drink made from a decoction of barley and ground sweet almonds', again implying this is a different modern definition of the plant in question.] The "Soldado Prtico" (practical soldier) by Diogo do Couto, says there he ate <<wild grapes, like the ones from Portugal, and melons like those from Abrantes>> and even a great sage of medicine, Garcia da Horta doesn't resist comparing Indian products to national ones. To him "assa-ftida" (a resinous syrup extracted from <celery?>) is/has an <<appetizing bitterness, like that of olives>> and cinnamon smells like oregano, <but with a milder scent>>. To refer to the cooking of rice with coconut milk, (he) says that this <<is like rice with goat's milk>>, and of bananas can affirm that that <<baked and placed in wine with cinnamon on top (they) taste like baked quinces, and much better.>> > From comparison to comparison, the Lusitanian palate begins to get used to Asian tastes. Raised with a taste for bread and meat, wine, sauces of olive oil and vinegar, the Portuguese of India do not immediately become accustomed to fish fried in butter and rice with special sauces from the natives. Gently they begin to blend, to make culinary symbioses. They perfect and improvise (the dishes). Their traditional delicacies mix with the local products. Bastardised recipes, of "caldo-verde" with spinach and without olive oil, or stews [modernly caldeirada denotes a fish/seafood stew] with ginger and tamarind exist, still today, among the Goan peoples. The very Lusitanian "cabidelas" of blood [stew of organ meats, necks, wings and blood of birds] added t with tamarind, ginger and "curcuma" [a member of the Zingiberaceae family, commercially referred to as 'saffron-of-the-Indies' - based on this definition, I suspect this is galangal.]; "presunto" (ham), dried and salted, is seasoned with cinnamon; tripe appears adorned with "saffron-of-the-Indies" and tamarinds; simple "chourios (sausages), so Christian, (now) use spices in the manner of the orient. In the matter of sweets emerge delicate tidbits that are placed on par with pear pastes and traditional marmalades, with the use of new fruits in sugar preserves: are the mango or coconut pastes, often enhanced with eggs. Of the confusion of those first times, in which familiar names were adapted to living realities, we have a similar sweet, made from bananas, which is, still today, called "figada" [figos are figs], prepared with "figos-da-India" (figs-of-India). The inverse also occurs, the Portuguese transmitting some of their tastes to the natural inhabitants. Still among sweet dishes, we may count the original "po-de-l", a "bolo podre" (name of a very sweet cake recipe- 'podre' means rotten), "pastis de nata" (cream tarts), and "pasties de Sta. Clara" (pastries from the convent of Saint Clara), perhaps left by the nuns of St Monica, (who were) famous for their sweets. Delicacies that remain for ever rooted between the populations of the Portuguese territories in India, demonstrating well the ancient influence of Lusiadian tastes in those distant lands. "Vinha d'alhos" (a common Portuguese marinade) takes on the role of the primordial example of European tastes, spreading from Goa to China and to the Malasian Islands, finally being transported, in more recent times, to countries like England and America, where it is known as vindaloo. Extremely interesting is the saga of "Sarapatel" (dish of blood, liver, kidneys, meat and heart of pork or mutton, with broth) food of humble folk in Portugal, made with the economic organs of the animals that this people will introduce everywhere they travel. Sarapateis exist in Goa, for many years supplemented with hot spices, of ginger, cinnamon and the oriental "curcuma", the-saffron-of-the Indies [galangal?] which here substitutes saffron of the flower. But sarapateis are also present in the recipe collections of Cabo Verde, Angola, Moambique, Brasil, and even in the more distant stops of Timor or Macau it appears, always with natural adaptations, convenient to the palate of each nation. Nevertheless, the most interesting (fact) is that that dish, which has also been called"sarrabulhada", "laburdo" or "bazulaque", has returned to our tables, now as a foreign curiosity, almost exclusively served as an exotic specialty in Goan restaurants. Very important, in relation to the national culinary panorama, is also the story of one of the foods given to the sick in India, made of <<water from cooking rice with pepper and cumin (which they call 'canje')>>, in the words of Garcia da Horta, or as he states farther along: <<sour milk mixed with rice and shredded chicken in the water from this rice, (which they call 'canje')>>. Ask any modern Portuguese person and he will swear that canja is one of the most genuine Portuguese foods. <the end> Edited by Mark S. Harris fd-Portugal-msg 3 of 3